Harrington in fold; McKenzie, McAllister not on injury report

The Saints added a new but somewhat familiar face to their 53-man roster Friday, picking up quarterback Joey Harrington.

Harrington, a seven-year veteran, last played for Atlanta last season, starting 10 of the 12 games he played and finishing the season with 2,215 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. He was cut by the Falcons before the beginning of this season.

Harrington said he did not work out with the Saints but visited the team and had dinner with Coach Sean Payton before the regular-season opener when the team was in Indianapolis because of Hurricane Gustav. Harrington also said he had recent visits with the Ravens and Titans.

"It worked out how I had hoped," Harrington said. "That was the ultimate goal, to get to a place where I could kind of take a step back, learn from some great people, some great players, some great coaches, and be a part of a team that's going to have some fun."

After cutting Tyler Palko after the preseason, the Saints had two quarterbacks (Drew Brees and Mark Brunell) on their roster for their first two games. Payton said Friday that receiver Terrance Copper was the team's emergency third-string quarterback, but Copper has a hamstring problem that has kept him out of practice all week and will cause him to miss Sunday's game at Denver.

"We felt like the timing was right in bringing Joey in here now," Payton said. "He's a guy that we thought played pretty well last year for Atlanta on paper. He's got ability. It's a good opportunity for him to come in here under guys like Drew Brees and Brunell, learn our system."

As a highly touted prospect from Oregon, Harrington was the No.¤3 overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft, and he spent four seasons with Detroit. But the Lions never won more than six games in a season with Harrington as the starter, and he moved to the Dolphins for the 2006 season before joining the Falcons.

Harrington comes to the Saints with 14,693 yards, 79 touchdowns, 85 interceptions and a 69.4 passer rating for his career.

"I've obviously had a few bumps along the way," Harrington said. "Some mistakes I made, and some things I couldn't control. But they've all been learning situations, and I think here, it gives me the chance to learn from somebody who's done it well in Drew."

Harrington said he found out about his new job Thursday afternoon, a surprise considering calls about roster additions usually come earlier in the week. He was on a plane from his home in Atlanta to New Orleans by Thursday night, and he was on the field Friday for the Saints' practice in Metairie.

"We had a 7 o'clock appointment to show our house last night, so hopefully they liked it," Harrington said.

INJURIES AND MOVES: To make room for Harrington, the Saints released defensive tackle Alvin McKinley.

Payton said that six of his players did not practice Friday and will be out for Sunday's game: Copper, linebacker Scott Fujita (knee), cornerback Aaron Glenn (ankle), tight end Mark Campbell (hamstring), defensive tackle Antwan Lake (groin) and receiver Marques Colston (thumb).

Running back Aaron Stecker (hamstring) was limited in Friday's practice and is questionable for Sunday's game, and running back Deuce McAllister and cornerback Mike McKenzie were left off the injury report.

"Right now, it's just a matter of how much they play and their roles," Payton said about McAllister and McKenzie. "But for two weeks now, they've been listed as full, and they are full. It's just a matter of when we feel like they're ready to go and play ahead of the guys in front of them."

Teddy Kider can be reached at tkider@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3409.